Retail Movers & Shakers

The Retail Top 100 Movers & Shakers Report 2019

Retail Movers & ShakersThe top 100 Report 2019

Welcome

The industry continues to

change at a rapid pace and it is

now recognised by all established

retailers that they must undergo

a transformation of some form

or other if they are to bring

themselves up to the standard

of the newer players who have

entered the sector over recent

years.

This year’s list very much

highlights how the industry

has so dramatically changed.

In the top 20 there is only one

business that would be described

as a traditional stores-based

retailer, Hotel Chocolat, while the

remainder are very much digital-

forward organisations. Ocado,

Amazon, Farfetch and Gymshark

feature prominently and show

which way the retail wind is

blowing.

The objective of the report has

been to find those people who

are setting the pace within this

changing retail landscape. The

sort of people who are remaking

the industry for a new era where

the old models are fast becoming

redundant.

To help Retail Insider undertake

this tough task it has again relied

on the skills of an experienced

Advisory Panel who have been

massively valuable in bringing

their unique perspective into

play. This has ensured the

rigorous methodology we apply

to its production was again

maintained this year. I would like

to thank them for their important

contribution.

A very big thank-you also goes to

K3 for its continued sponsorship

of the Movers & Shakers report

and its dedication to highlighting

the best talent in the industry.

This Anniversary edition shows

just how exciting the retail sector

is and what is possible.

Welcome to the latest annual ‘Retail Insider Top 100 Movers & Shakers in Retail’ report that is proud

to celebrate its 10th Anniversary and again highlight the achievements of those individuals who are

successfully bringing digital into their respective businesses.

Glynn DavisRetailinsider.com

twitter @glynndavis


Methodology

These individuals comprised consultants, technology vendors, service providers, recruitment specialists, senior retail executives, advisors and City analysts whose expertise encompassed all aspects of the sector.

The carefully selected Advisory Panel then helped to reduce this long list down to a Top 100 names and from within this grouping they selected a Top 50. The Panel is chosen on the basis of their combined knowledge and expertise covering every part of the retail industry.

The Top 50 names was then given to each of the Panel members to score privately on a number of important criteria – achievement over the last 12 months, potential future achievement, customer engagement, digital capability and innovative capability. By collating these scores a ranked Top 50 list was created.

This year has seen a further refinement to the list with non-retailers in the Top 100 being incorporated into the main list rather than having their own sections. The only separate grouping remaining is for ‘Investors

and Non-executive Directors’, which has been retained because of the view that this is an increasingly important and valued part of the retail industry.

Also make a note of those with a OTW mark, they are ‘One to Watch’ and we believe they may just be some of the brightest sparks this sector has to offer.

Over the past year a wide range of experts from across different disciplines within the retail industry have been consulted to help draw

up an initial long list of potential constituents of the Top 100 for 2019.



Anthony Fletcher | CEO | Graze.comAnthony took up the CEO role at Graze in December 2012 after serving as UK managing director and chief marketing officer at the healthy snacks company, beginning in 2009. He has used the marketing and product skills he honed while at Innocent Drinks to build the Graze business and take it into retail stores and venture into the US market. Anthony successfully led the business’s sale to Unilever.

Indira Thambiah | senior advisor | Roof MakerIndira is currently a senior advisor at Roof Maker, where she was previously CEO, and also advises VentureFounders and runs Silly Point Wines. She previously spent two years as managing director of luxury bathroom retailer C P Hart. She has a strong track record from Home Retail Group, DSG Group and Zulily.

David Kohn | customer & e-commerce director | Heal’sDavid heads up the customer & e-commerce division of department store Heal’s where he is a director. He calls on a vast amount of experience gained from time spent at Borders, Waterstones, and Snow+Rock. He is also a consultant specialising in multi-channel strategies.

Daniel Bobroff | founder | Coded Futures Daniel is the founder of Coded Futures, a creative technology advisory firm focused on retail, as well as being a special advisor & head of retail at High Tech Engineering Center (HTEC). This follows a two-year period as co-founder & investment director at Asos Ventures. Daniel is also a leading speaker on the topic of retail technology and is a board member of True Fit Corporation and Detego.

Alison Lancaster | interim marketing strategist |The Bicester Village Shopping CollectionAlison’s current role is interim marketing strategist at Bicester Village, which follows a period as digital marketing direct at Fanatics, and chief customer officer at House of Fraser. She is massively experienced in the digital and marketing areas with a career that has encompassed time at numerous retailers including Bonmarche, White Stuff, Feather & Black, Harrods, Charles Tyrwhitt, Bravissimo and John Lewis.

Melissa Reed | partner & head of global retail practice | H.I. Executive Consulting Melissa leads the global retail practice at H.I. Executive Consulting (formerly Heads International). She works with UK and global retailers building exceptional teams at board level. Her early career in retail gives her great insight into the issues facing her clients and much of her work is helping clients steer businesses through transformation to help them achieve their strategic objectives. She was previously part of the global consumer markets practice at Korn Ferry.

The Movers & Shakers Top 100 Advisory Panel


John Bovill | executive consultant digital and technology | All SaintsJohn has many years of retail experience most recently at All Saints. This followed a spell as chief digital officer at WHL Australasia. In September 2017 he joined the group’s regional executive committee with responsibility for digital strategy across its David Jones and Country Road Group. Prior to that John worked at Monsoon Accessorize as IT and e-commerce director, at Jacques Vert Group Ltd as commercial director, and at Aurora Fashions.

Simon Calver | head of Ventures investment | BGFSimon became a founding partner of BGF Ventures in 2015 to launch a new £200 million early stage venture company, investing up to £6 million in leading tech entrepreneurs across the UK. He is now Head of Investments for Ventures and early stage and sits on many boards including Gousto, where he was previously chairman, as well as Global App Testing and Firefly Learning. He was previously CEO of Mothercare and LOVEFiLM which he joined after spending his earlier career at the likes of Dell and Unilever.

Hannah Joyce | partner | Calibre OneHannah is a partner at digital executive search firm Calibre One and brings over a decade of experience focusing on digital, marketing, commercial leadership and digital transformation searches. She previously led the Internet and Digital practice for Odgers Berndtson and more recently she was part of the Global Technology & Consumer practice at Heidrick & Struggles.

Tony Bryant | director of global business development | K3 He has been the retail face of K3 business for over 10 years, building significant relationships in the market and getting K3 recognised as one of the ‘go to’ retail partners in Microsoft and the wider partner community. With a formidable reputation as an influential strategic thinker who influences yet tactically executes and is able to contribute to the broader business debate.

Sarah McVittie | co-founder | DressipiSarah is co-founder of fashion prediction platform Dressipi that has built up a roster of leading retailers as clients. She has been a leading force in the tech industry for over 15 years that began with her building her first award-winning business SMS Q&A service Texperts that was inspired by her first job working as an analyst at investment bank UBS. Texperts was sold in 2008 in a multi-million-pound deal.

Guy Hipwell | advisor and investorGuy has over 25 years’ worth of experience in the retail sector. An early starter in digital, he has been involved in online retailing since the late 1990’s working at the likes of Harrods, Liberty and C&A. Now very much a plural executive he works with a multitude of businesses across all sectors providing mentoring and advisory services and is the founder of digital advisory board The Table Partnership.

Additional special thanks to:Joanna Perry | global head of marketing | Practicology

The Movers & Shakers Top 100 Advisory Panel

Denise DavidsonRetail Advocate | K3

[email protected] @K3_Denise


Retail – but not as we know it

Retail as we knew it has been

well and truly shaken up and

continues to evolve at an

incredible pace. As we celebrate

our 10th anniversary sponsoring

the Retail insider Retail Movers &

Shakers, I reflect on the intention

of the Movers & Shakers. The

brainchild of Glynn Davis – it

was always intended to identify

those individuals who were

making a difference in retail, over

the 10 years no one could have

foreseen just how much the retail

landscape has been transformed.

Whilst some might say I

am biased, I would strongly

recommend the Movers &

Shakers report as essential

reading for anyone involved in

the retail sector. The detailed

insight provided is invaluable

and highlights with great clarity

those who are doing it their way

and succeeding.

I would like to personally thank

Glynn and the Advisory Panel

of experts who bring with them

a wealth of knowledge and

expertise as well as much heated

debate discussing who would be

in the final top 100.

As always, the final words of

thanks must go to all those who

make up the Movers & Shakers

report who are embracing the

digital age head on, innovating

in ways so far removed from

conventional retailing.

I’d love to hear your views on this

year’s report and look forward to

some lively discussion!

This year more than ever we are seeing the rules of retail being thrown out of the window and redefined.

Movers & Shakers Top 50


The final top 50 have been selected and ranked by the Advisory Panel based on innovation, performance over the last 12 months,

potential future performance, customer engagement, future business leader potential, and multi-channel strategy.

01 02 03Tim Steiner | CEO + Paul Clarke | CTO | Ocado

Under Steiner’s guidance Ocado continues

to build its reputation as a powerhouse of UK

innovation, which may hold the answer to many

global retailers’ dreams of seamless online food

trading and delivery. After many years of low

City expectations the ever-optimistic Steiner

has finally been able to announce new retail

partnerships including Australian grocer Coles

and Kroger in the US. This progress is based on the

pioneering work undertaken by Clarke who has

created one of the most effective digital teams in

retail building cutting edge robotics solutions.

Luke Jensen | CEO + Simon Thompson | chief product officer | Ocado Solutions

Jensen joined Ocado in 2017 as the CEO of its

Solutions business that comprised the Ocado

Smart Platform (OSP) technology. This was being

promoted by the Ocado management as the

white label solution for food retailers globally and

was clearly regarded as the driver of Ocado’s long-

term prospects. Jensen has been fundamental to

bringing this strategy to life through the striking

of deals with major name supermarkets around

the world. A key member of his team is Thompson

who joined from HSBC in April 2018.

Doug Gurr | country MD UK + Ajay Kavan | VP international special projects | Amazon

Gurr was able to report that the UK Prime

membership hit 15 million members this year – a

milestone which shows that his understanding of

how to expand Amazon in the UK remains undimmed.

New developments call on the expertise of Kavan.

They have included a series of high street pop-

ups throughout the country showcasing Amazon

suppliers, a new deal with Next to allow customers

to pick up their deliveries from the retailer’s stores,

and the investment in Deliveroo show that Gurr and

Kavan are still full of ideas.




04 05 06Jose Neves | founder & CEO + Andrew Robb | COO + Stephanie Phair | chief strategy officer | Farfetch

Farfetch continues to make serious headway in the

luxury online sector with various new initiatives

on sustainability, the launch of the first Store of

the Future augmented retail pilot with Chanel,

further global expansion, and the deal to handle

Harrods’ online activities. Robb’s remit of rolling

out expansion plans and Phair’s of being in charge

of innovation, M&A, and corporate development

with responsibility for new business lines add

significantly to the original vision of Neves who

remains a disruptive influence and driving force of

the business. Robb is to leave the business in early

2020.

Ben Francis | founder + Steve Hewitt | CEO | Gymshark

Online sportswear brand Gymshark continues

to deliver increases in revenues remarkable

by anyone’s standards but a measure of how

much value Gymshark’s customers place in

young founder Francis’ influencer-led marketing

approach. In March the company confirmed plans

to build its first gym and innovation hub, which

will be a base for Gymshark’s creative teams,

providing zones to try and test new ideas and

products. Sportswear veteran Hewitt joined in

2015 to add an experienced pair of hands and will

oversee the proposed expansion into 25 country

specific online stores by 2020.

John Lyttle | CEO + Jo Graham | CIO | Boohoo.com

Lyttle only began his tenure at Boohoo.com in

March of 2019 having joined after spending eight

years at value chain Primark. The fashion retail

specialist will be looking to develop the company’s

scalable multi-brand platform so it can continue

to disrupt and capitalise on the global opportunity.

Jo Graham has only been in post since May 2019

and is a relative retail newcomer. She will look after

technology for the Boohoo.com, BoohooMan,

and Nasty Gal brands. Her previous retail role was

CIO of Morrisons.




07 08 09Philippe Chainieux | CEO | Made

Chainieux has been both COO and CEO during his

six years at the online furniture and home-wares

retailer Made. His influence showed in results

released in 2019 that showed record total revenue

of £173 million up 37% year-on-year. Chainieux

has also overseen the development of the bricks

and mortar showrooms for Made complete

with up to the minute tech features – alongside

planned European expansion into Italy, Sweden,

Denmark and Portugal through 2019.

Matthew Moulding | CEO + Lucy Gorman | CEO | MyProtein – The Hut Group

Barely a week passes by without an announcement

of a deal by The Hut Group and pushing this growth

is its founder and CEO Moulding who’s drive can

create a challenging and relentless environment.

In June THG took a site in Manchester to provide a

showcase for its impressive array of products sold

via several hundred different websites. Moulding

has a proven technique of acquiring his way into

new markets online, which gave the beauty and

wellness company revenues of £916 million in

2018. One of the most important acquisitions was

MyProtein which has been headed up by Gorman

since April 2018.

Kevin Cornils | MD of international | Peloton

Cornils has been at fitness start-up Peloton for

nearly two years having gained previous early

stage experience including building Match.com

into the leading European online dating brand and

constructing Glasses Direct/MyOptique into the

largest European online eyewear business. He is

responsible for the roll-out of the fitness brand in

the UK, which involves live streaming of fitness.




10 11 12Maria Raga | CEO | Depop

Spaniard Raga joined person-to-person resale

site Depop in 2014 as VP of operations and was

moved to the top job after only a year. She arrived

after spending four years at Groupon. Raga has

been very keen on increasing the sustainability

of the site even further and monetising the

trend data that its users provide with an ongoing

focus on Gen Z consumers as well as nurturing

the design talent of some of the site’s growing

number of sellers.

Ross Bailey | founder | Appear Here

Bailey’s Appear Here burst onto the commercial

rental scene as a very disruptive force in 2012

to bring together a community of brands,

entrepreneurs and creatives to empty space in

cities around the world. He has led the company to

open three regional offices in property hotspots

and has helped make the pop-up an everyday

reality for brands trying to connect with the

consumer in a digital age. His latest innovation

is to seek to take on leases for entire department

stores marking a significant change of strategy.

Angus Thirlwell | CEO | Hotel Chocolat

As the CEO and co-founder of the vertically

integrated chocolate company Thirlwell is the very

public face of Hotel Chocolat, which continues to

go from strength to strength – most recent figures

show 14% uplift in revenues and a promised big

expansion into Japan and the US. A long history of

innovation and development under his chocolate-

obsessed leadership mean that the company is

always offering something new from chocolate

bonds to raise money for the Velvetiser, the in-home

hot chocolate making device.




13 14 15Nick Beighton | CEO | Asos

One of the big online success stories until very

recently, Beighton is facing a period of uncertainty

for the fast fashion retailer following news of

redundancies in his London headquarters and

a slow-down in demand leading to a sharp drop

in interim pre-tax profits in March 2019. He

immediately announced a ‘refresh’ strategy while

also tackling serial returners of goods and bringing

a new sense of mission to the business that he felt

had been lacking in recent years.

Federico Marchetti | CEO + Alison Loehnis | president of In-season – YNAP

Marchetti has created an online luxury powerhouse

and as the business continues to grow it is on back

of his strategic vision. He is pushing forward on

multiple fronts that include investing in logistics

and the checkout process that will create a single

global inventory and unified payment process for

the YNAP sites and the white label clients’ sites. A

greater push to use data more powerfully is also

on the agenda. In Loehnis he has a powerful ally,

and capable operator, with responsibility for a

growing portfolio within YNAP.

Anthony Fletcher | CEO | Graze.com

After learning all about innovation at Innocent Drinks,

Fletcher came to the healthy snacks retailer Graze

in 2009. He worked his way to the top job, which he

took over in 2012. During that time he has helped it

move from being a purely subscription box model to

selling through supermarkets and online – including

in the US. There have been some challenges along

the way but Fletcher is incredibly well regarded and

played a leading role in the sale of Graze to Unilever

who will look to utilise his experience and skill sets.




16 17 18Tom Athron | COO + Nicolas Pickaerts | e-commerce director | MATCHESFASHION.com

With the unexpected departure of CEO Ulric

Jerome there will no doubt be some extra

responsibility placed upon Tom Athron at this

mainly online company that Jerome helped build

into a truly global luxury fashion retailer. In 2018

the company reported booming profits and also

revealed that a new app accounted for 51% of

online sales, which is very much the domain of

Pickaerts. This year a major new concept store

at 5 Carlos Place in London showed great forward

thinking and will no doubt reap the rewards of

retailtainment as it takes the company back to

bricks and mortar.

JJ Van Oosten | chief digital officer | Lego Group (OTW)

Van Oosten joined Lego Group at the start of 2019

and reports directly to the CEO. He can expect to

play a vital role in all aspects of the group’s digital

strategy from technology to e-commerce and

shopper and consumer engagement. Lego will be

hoping that his acumen and track record leading

digital transformations in consumer branded

and retail companies will prove profitable. He is a

veteran CIO with previous stints at REWE, Tesco

and Kingfisher.

Simon Leesley | MD | Stitch Fix UK (OTW)

Leesley has been with the styling service company

for nearly six years but only recently moved to head

up the UK division, which launched in 2019. He

gained his fashion experience at Neiman Marcus

where he worked for more than six years. He will now

be expecting to utilise the much higher e-commerce

penetration of the UK market compared to the US to

his advantage but it still remains to be seen if he will

make any fundamental changes to the UK business.




19 20 21Rosie Srao | director of product EMEA + Daniel Heaf | GM of global direct digital commerce | Nike

Srao has been at the iconic sportswear retailer

for 18 months and was joined a year ago by Heaf.

Nike’s most recent results show a rise in sales of

7% to $39.1 billion with a 35% increase in online

revenue making it clear where the engine of growth

will be in the coming years. Both Heaf and Srao are

well placed to make the most of the digitisation

of Nike’s offering with its drive towards direct-to-

consumer sales. Srao’s background spans M&S

and John Lewis while Heaf previously spent four

years working on the digital side at Burberry.

Demetra Pinsent | CEO + Harminder Matharu | director of digital | Charlotte Tilbury Beauty

Pinsent has headed up digital-forward Charlotte

Tilbury Beauty for over seven years and joined

from McKinsey where he was a partner. Under her

leadership the brand has expanded into Ireland,

US, Canada, Netherlands and Germany and it

continues to grow exponentially. Matharu joined

the company as marketing director before moving

to director of digital in January 2019. The role

involves utilising social, mobile and connected

devices to get real-time insight from consumers,

and using that data to inspire creative thinking

across channels.

Aron Gelbard | CEO + Phil Burton | COO | Bloom & Wild

Gelbard founded Bloom & Wild in 2013 and pioneered

the idea of letterbox delivery for flowers – and even

for mini Christmas trees. His digital-first strategy

allows Bloom & Wild to gather data making it more

efficient at predicting how much and what types

of flowers it will need at any given time while the

Bloom & Wild app, which takes half of all orders, has a

built-in occasion planner to remind users a few days

before important dates. Burton joined as second in

command in 2015 and brings a strong customer-

focus to the business, which scores very highly on all

ratings platforms and helping it grow exponentially.




22 23 24Duncan Grant | director of strategy + Phil Geary | marketing director | The Entertainer

Grant has been at his family-owned toy retailer

for almost 13 years, initially as director of

multichannel and now as director of strategy. In

2018 The Entertainer posted double-digit growth

in profit, sales and like-for-likes as it continued to

expand its store estate. Grant’s strategy has led

to the successful acquisition of Poly in Spain and

the Early Learning Centre in the UK. Grant has

been ably assisted by Geary for the last five years

resulting in a new website and an increase in online

sales in last year by 38%.

Simon Mottram | founder and CEO | Rapha Racing

Founded in 2004 Mottram’s ground breaking

brand-driven cycling clothing and cafes company

was sold in 2017 to RZC Investments. However,

he remains at the helm and began 2019 with the

signing of a new cycling sponsorship deal, and a

range revamp that includes in-house designed

shoes. This is not just a retailer and the Rapha

Cycling Club continues to do well in linking the

brand to cycling fans. Disruption is still the name

of the game for Mottram.

Sean McKee | head of e-commerce and customer services | Schuh

Schuh’s results for last year showed its online division

was a shining star with e-commerce revenues

growing to make up 20% of total sales. It has

benefited from investment in a visual re-design and

a revamped website under the leadership of McKee

who has been in charge of its online operations for

three years following various other roles at Schuh.

The well regarded McKee has a remit of driving

strategy, operation and performance of Schuh’s

online and CX proposition with overall responsibility

for digital marketing, editorial, site optimisation,

digital merchandising and analytics.




25 26 27Jill Easterbrook | CEO + Ana Machado da Silva | head of digital product | Boden

Boden’s last reported results showed a strong

growth of 13% on the back of Easterbrook and

Machado da Silva investing heavily in people,

new distribution channels, a new warehouse

in Leicester and head office development.

Easterbrook joined in 2017 and immediately set

about turning the company into an international,

multi-channel retailer. She is due to leave the

business at the end of 2019. Machado da Silva

arrived in 2015 with stints at Burberry and ASOS

under her belt. Although Boden has opened

several shops to maximise its channels to market

it remains a predominantly online business.

Charlie Marshall | founder | Loaf

Marshall founded ‘laid back’ furniture retailer Loaf

in 2008 after he wasted a day trying to buy a bed.

Since then under his leadership the company has

flourished and now boasts several showrooms

in the South East of England and has expanded

its range considerably from beds to most home

décor. Loaf is vertically integrated and designs all

its own products with Marshall having the ultimate

aim of becoming a £100 million predominantly

online business.

Richard Hurren | MD of Northern Europe + Katia Walsh | chief strategy and AI officer | Levi’s (OTW)

Hurren has been with the legendary denim retailer

for 13 years during which time he has moved

from senior buying director in Europe to VP North

Europe. He also previously spent a decade at Next

and worked for a stint at Adidas. On his watch Levi’s

has moved into personalisation, increased its ethical

practices, and developed into more of a lifestyle

brand. Walsh joined the brand in the spring of 2019

with a remit to help the fashion retailer translate

data analytics into major decisions for the business

and to support the operation across innovation

incubation, new business models, and strategic

growth initiatives.




28 29 30Simon Forster | MD | Selfridges

Forster joined the upmarket retailer in 2012 but

only became MD in February 2019 – just after

Selfridges posted record breaking Christmas

trading figures. Forster now has responsibility for

the three luxury department stores the group has

in the UK and its online store. Prior to Selfridges

Forster had stints at both TK Maxx and Debenhams

where he developed the online channel.

Jo Whitfield | CEO + Chris Conway | head of digital | Co-op Food

Jo Whitfield has overseen a transformation of

the Co-op Food offering in terms of its delivery

innovations and aspirations to be the main

convenience food retailer in the UK. She joined

the company in 2016 as group finance director

but soon moved to the top job the year after. She

cut her retail teeth during eight years at Asda.

She is assisted by Conway who also joined from a

supermarket – Morrison’s – and is fully immersed

in the digital transformation of the business.

Steve Murrells | CEO + Matt Atkinson | chief membership officer | Co-operative Group

Murrells moved from Co-op Food to head the whole

group in 2017 and has since overseen the successful

acquisition of NISA which brought Co-op goods into

4,000 extra stores across the country. Innovations

continue apace with experiments in delivery

methods using robots and e-bikes as both Atkinson

and Murrells tap into the booming interest in the

co-operative’s ethical stance. Atkinson joined Co-

op from SAGA and will hope to replicate his success

there in turning the organisation into a digital one

and winning new members.




31 32 33Peter Williams | non-executive director

Williams has a portfolio of directorships at both

privately and publicly owned companies, most

notably he has been the chairman of Superdry

since April 2019, of Domino’s Eurasia for two years

and of Mister Spex for nearly six years. He has his

work cut out to turn Superdry around following

a boardroom coup which also returned fellow

Selfridges’ veteran Julian Dunkerton to the top job

alongside Williams and led to the mass resignation

of the existing board. Williams has the benefit of

calling on a mass of experience.

Julia Straus | CEO | Sweaty Betty (OTW)

Straus was only appointed in June 2019 and her

remit is largely to oversee Sweaty Betty’s digital

and international expansion – there are currently

60 stores in the UK and US. She steps up from

managing director and takes over from Sweaty

Betty founder Simon Hill-Norton who has taken on

the chairman role. Commentators will be looking

to her extensive digital pure-play knowledge,

learnt from her time at Tula and Baublebar, to take

the clothing brand to its next level.

Chris Morton | CEO | Lyst

Morton founded the fashion search engine Lyst

in 2010 and has since presided over some up and

down periods. Against this backdrop it has managed

to raise significant amounts in investment – most

notably when LVMH contributed nearly half of a $60

million round and showed everyone that the luxury

powerhouse thinks Lyst is a very sound bet for a

future where luxury brands are as accessible online

as fast fashion. Morton will be using that money to

expand into new regions and languages - it has now

launched in French and has its sights set on Asia - as

well as to invest in iterating its technology.




34 35 36Peter Cowgill | executive chairman + Dan Finley | group multi-channel director | JD Sports

Sometimes described as a ‘retail magician’

Cowgill joined the sports and leisure brand

in 2004 and continues to oversee the never-

ending rise in profits for the retailer. January’s

results showed another increase in like-for-like

sales and annual revenue moved up by nearly £1

billion. The holy grail of US expansion is going well

following the Finish Line acquisition and the Foot

Asylum purchase is also moving forward. Working

alongside Cowgill, Finley joined in 2012 and on

his watch the focus on online theatre has been

relentless.

Sir Stuart Rose | non-executive director

There aren’t many old school High Street retailers

of note that Rose hasn’t been involved in over the

years (Burton, Argus, Arcadia and M&S) but many

of his directorships are firmly based in technology-

led companies such as Ocado and Dressipi. He

got on board with Ocado as chairman in 2013

and joined fashion prediction platform Dressipi

in 2012. The increasingly fast-paced evolution of

the retail sector make him ideally placed within

these companies to stay in the vanguard of multi-

channel strategies.

Paul Hayes | CEO | Seasalt

It is six years since Hayes joined the Seasalt team

and in that time profits at the women’s clothing

retailer have doubled from £28 million to £51 million.

It continues to open new stores when others are

leaving the high street and he secured a £16 million

investment from Santander at the end of 2018 to

undertake a further 40 openings over the next five

years along with an increased focus on the omni-

channel experience. This growth has been made

possible by a major re-platforming of the business

last year.




37 38 39Robin Terrell | non-executive director

Terrell holds multiple non-executive roles spanning

clothing, betting and homeware companies both

here and internationally. The most recent is New

Look where he has been for several months after

its founder Tom Singh retired. A retail and leisure

strategy and transformation expert, Terrell is also

the former chief customer officer of Tesco and

managing director of John Lewis.

Alex Baldock | group CEO | Dixons Carphone

Baldock has been at the under-pressure

electronics retailer since early 2018 and is

midway through a turnaround which he hopes

will stabilise its fortunes. To date he has overseen

the renegotiation of all legacy network contacts,

developed a new customer offer, and accelerated

the integration of mobile and electronics into a

single business. He retains goodwill from a solid

reputation built up from his work transforming

Shop Direct.

Nick Jones | CEO (OTW) + Colin Porter | chairman | Joules

Retail veteran Jones is due to take over the top job at

Joules sometime in 2019 as the very well regarded

Porter steps back to be chairman. He will arrive

with a focus on international expansion and online

growth – and leaves Asda after eight years running

the George brand. Prior to that Jones spent 15 years

with Marks & Spencer in a wide variety of roles.




4140 42Lord Simon Wolfson | CEO | Next

Wolfson’s long tenure at one of the UK’s best

known high street names continues for an

eighteenth year. His well-known exacting eye

for financial detail and ability to think through a

problem and come up with a solution make him a

rock solid figure at the top of Next. The company

makes over 50% of sales online making it one of

the better placed mid-market fashion retailers

to weather current challenging conditions. His

recent report on the prospects for the company’s

store base over the next 15 years should be

required reading for all retailers.

Clodagh Moriarty | group chief digital officer | Sainsbury’s

Moriarty is now one year into her appointment

as the first chief digital officer at Sainsbury’s.

Recent results showed online sales grew by 6.9%

and Moriarty will now be focusing on expanding

the online business even further through trialling

checkout-free stores, trialling digital Nectar in

Wales ahead of a broader roll-out later in the year

and introducing the SmartShop self-scan to more

of the group’s supermarkets.

Doug Gardner | CIO | River Island

Gardner is a tech enthusiast whose strength

lies in driving organisations forward through

the effective selection and deployment of new

technology. This he has done to great effect at

River Island where he has been since 2011. He

can be credited with transforming the role of tech

from being a support service to playing a key role

in commercial strategy. It will be an increasingly

important shift because despite opening more

stores revenue is increasingly skewed towards

online – 33% increase in click and collect along

with a 24% increase in m-commerce is proof of

the direction of travel.




44 45John Roberts | CEO | AO.com

It’s been a turbulent year for AO.com management

– in 2018 Roberts stood down as CEO after 17

years only to take up the mantle again in early

2019 to widespread surprise. After reporting

a loss in November, AO got back on track with a

record breaking Black Friday and a “re-energised”

Roberts now firmly back in charge. His focus is on

creating a new house tech team to better service

the growing e-commerce and m-commerce

capabilities of the company.

Kresse Wesling | co-founder | Elvis & Kresse

Wesling co-founded the sustainable luxury brand

Elvis & Kresse in 2005 with the aim of diverting

old firehoses away from landfill and into artisan-

made belts, purses and bags. Today the company

has expanded to include parachute silk, former

conveyor belts and off cuts of leather as it further

utilises waste materials. The range has also been

increased to include some homewares. Wesling

continues to prove an inspiration to those who

seek to combine CSR commitments with luxury

and is an exemplar in purpose-driven retail.

43Sharon White | chairman + Sienne Veit | director of digital | John Lewis

Economist White’s surprise appointment from

Ofcom to chair John Lewis came in June of 2019.

Although not a retailer, according to John Lewis, she

brings vision, leadership, drive and flair to steer the

partnership through its next phase as the retailer

remains buffeted by the discounters and online

rivals. Sienne Veit joined John Lewis nearly five years

ago with the remit to unify the Online Product, Trade

and Operations teams into one digital team. Veit has

stints at Morrison’s and Invisible Stuff behind her.




47 48Craig Smith | digital commerce director | Ted Baker

After 23 years working for Ted Baker as brand

communications director, Smith shifted to his

current role two years ago. He sees the big

opportunities at the clothing retailer as being

around evolving its product offer and wrapping

it up with customer friendly narrative and

storytelling. Despite the recent challenges Ted

Baker has faced, its e-commerce sales were up

by 20% in the most recent results and the online

channel seems set to comprise an ever larger

share of revenue under his watch.

Rowan Gormley | CEO | Naked Wines

It has been a big year for Gormley as he set in motion

the sale of the Majestic Wines stores business and

to focus the group on the online Naked Wines

operation that he created in 2008 before it was

acquired by Majestic in early 2015. This is without

doubt a big call but his entrepreneurial instinct has

served him well in the past.

46Jo Bertram | chief digital officer | O2

Bertram almost became a household name in the

UK after being the Uber boss in Northern Europe

for several years but left the controversial start up in

2018 to join telephone giant Telefonica. Her wealth of

innovative and customer-centric experience will be

useful in implementing Telefonica’s customer-first,

mobile-led business strategy in the UK. At a time

of change and new technologies her considerable

digital experience could be critical to future success.




49Alessandra Bellini | chief customer officer + Paul Wilkinson | head of product for space, range & display + Jo Hickson | head of Labs | Tesco

Unilever veteran Bellini’s remit is to ‘build the Tesco

brand globally and put the customer at the heart

of everything’ which she is performing admirably

judging by the company’s progress. She will

increasingly rely on the work of Hickson who took up

the mantle of head of Labs in February 2019 having

previously worked as head of innovation at both

Sainsbury and TUI. Wilkinson previously headed up

research at the Tesco Labs but his role was changed

as part of a strategy to broaden his experience

within Tesco.

50Dave Potts | CEO + Andy Atkinson | group marketing and customer director | Morrison’s

After a lifetime working at Tesco, Potts arrived

at Morrison’s in 2015 and as of 2019 has seen

the retailer book three solid years of growth.

His relentless focus on making the shopping

experience more pleasurable for customers and

clever negotiations with Ocado and Amazon

seems to be paying dividends. Supporting the

CEO, Atkinson is now in his eighth year at the

supermarket having started as trading director

before moving up to own brand and sourcing. He

previously worked at Boots and L’Oreal.


Chosen from our long list and deservedly included in the Top 100 Movers & Shakers, these individuals have been recognised for:

their innovation performance over the year potential future performance customer engagement future business leader potential multi-channel strategy

They are listed here in alphabetical order by the organisation employing them.

Rob Feldmann | CEO | BrandAlleyThe long term chief executive of flash sale site BrandAlley has been in his job for more than a decade and been involved with the company since its inception in 2008. Feldmann continues to push the business forward with the focus on being a “mobile first” company. Last saw an exciting period of growth for BrandAlley with the business acquiring leading homeware and beauty e-tailer Achica. Feldmann will be hoping that with customers now benefitting from a full range of leading brands available on both Achica and BrandAlley revenues will continue to rise.

Nick Thomas | founder | Built/ (OTW)Thomas founded the enormously disruptive and successful builders’ supplies drive-through format Built/ when working within Travis Perkins. Although that concept is no longer operating, he is one to watch with his 20 years of experience specialising in data-driven omni-channel digital customer propositions. This includes stints heading up the digital and e-ventures arm of TP, the e-commerce and multi-channel director at The Works, and founder of Cloggs.co.uk.

Rod Manley | chief marketing officer | BurberryManley replaced his sister as CMO at forward-thinking fashion company Burberry at the end of 2018. He relocated to the UK from the US where he was working for Calvin Klein in a similar role. Manley will now have ultimate responsibility for all the marketing, communications and creative media teams at Burberry – one of his challenges will be trying to alleviate any long-term damage done to the company’s sustainability image by the news that it has been burning excess stock to protect the brand.

A-Z The Recognised Retailers


Alex Chesterman | founder | CazooChesterman founded car refurbishment site Cazoo in late 2018 with £30 million of backing from investors attracted by his entrepreneurial pedigree – he also founded Zoopla and LoveFilm. Chesterman seeks to transform the used car market by offering customers the chance to be able to buy, finance or rent a used car online and have it delivered to their door within 48 hours. Investors will be betting on Chesterman’s unparalleled track record of identifying and capitalising on opportunities for technology to disrupt whole industries. Cazoo announced in June that it has signed a number of commercial partnership agreements with BCA to begin meeting its vehicle logistics, refurbishment and disposal requirements.

Tony Mannix | CEO + Emma Dempsey | deputy CEO | Clipper LogisticsMannix joined Clipper in 2006 after a career in retail logistics spanning 30 years. He has a wealth of experience in complex logistics, including the design and specification of distribution centres, and multichannel operations. Clipper is particularly strong in the area of fashion and the intelligent handling of returns. Mannix is assisted by the experienced Dempsey who joined as COO in early 2017, before promotion to deputy CEO, and is keen to adopt environmental practices and promote a sustainability agenda within the business.

Dwain McDonald | CEO | DPD GroupMcDonald is the long-time CEO of DPD Group having been at the top of the company for an impressive 30-plus years. He was behind the development of DPD’s unique Predict service, which gives customers a one-hour delivery window so they don’t have to wait in all day, and lets them track their delivery driver. His mantra that he is in charge of a tech-company, which happens to deliver parcels, has stood him in very good stead for a career of award winning ‘firsts’ including the Your DPD app, which is used by close to two million people in the UK, and Precise, which allows customers to select their own delivery slot.

Leonie Foster | chief customer & digital officer | DunelmFoster joined the home-wares company in 2015 and is accountable for the end-to-end customer proposition including Dunelm.com, marketing, customer insight, use of macro and micro space, store format development and build (all new stores, refits and maintenance). Dunelm’s recent impressive results are testament to her work and Dunelm.com has doubled in size under her tenure to become a £150-plus million digital business. Prior to her appointment at Dunelm she spent five years as Tesco’s insight director.



Rebecca DeNiro | MD GB & Ireland | DysonDeNiro has been at Dyson for nine years, first in various sales roles and now as managing director as the group focuses ever more on its direct-to-consumer channel strategy. It’s most recent results showed a huge 33% rise in profits which broke through a billion dollars, however the demand is all in Asia and the company has also announced plans to move HQ to Asia to reflect that. DeNiro will hope that plans for an electric car being developed in the UK will boost the UK prospects for Dyson. Her previous employers include Reckitt Benckiser and PepsiCo.

Ben Pugh | CEO | FarmdropLondon-based Farmdrop describes itself as an ethical online supermarket and while Pugh founded it in 2012 working with a handful of suppliers, it now works with more than 450 producers. He spotted the business opportunity for mobile technology to cut out the middlemen of supermarkets and wholesalers from the food supply chain, and in doing so give a better deal to both farmers and consumers. Farmdrop has received close to £20 million of investment with Pugh (a former investment banker) at the helm and now serves clients in London, Bristol and Bath.

Zia Zareem-Slade | customer ex-perience director + Zoe Colegrave | head of online and marketing | Fortnum & MasonZareem-Slade has worked at the luxury grocer on London’s Piccadilly for nine years and has had a big impact across many parts of the business as her focus on the customer continues. Full year results for 2018 showed a 12% increase – which is remarkably the sixth year on the trot it has achieved double-digit growth. Her finger on the pulse of what her customers around the world want is impressive and in this she is ably assisted by Colegrave. Together they have contributed to a 21% increase last year in online sales. With the enormous popularity of the brand in new Asian markets this strong partnership looks set to continue.

Ted Bell | CEO | Freddie’s FlowersBell has been CEO of the subscription flower delivery company since 2015 after working at Abel & Cole for nearly eight years. The company seeks to tap into the market for fresh cut weekly flowers direct from the grower – in the same way as Abel & Cole does for fruit and veg.



A-Z The Recognised RetailersHugo Adams | CEO | Frugi (OTW)Cornish children’s wear brand Frugi had an interesting 2018 as the founders sold out to a private equity firm True and Adams was brought in to head up the company. The management changes have been made to take the sustainable kidswear brand to its next level and scale its growth across multiple channels. Adams has outlined his focus as looking at how the company drives e-commerce, how it furthers the wholesale business, and how and where it expands into new international markets.

Timo Boldt | CEO | GoustoBoldt founded the meal kit company in 2012 and has been its CEO for the duration seeing the company through multiple investment rounds. Boldt describe Gousto as a tech company that happens to trade in food and in July 2019 it raised a further £30 million to continue development of its customer facing artificial intelligence recipe recommendation tool, through which half of customer orders are now placed. Year-on-year growth at Gousto is reported as being 170% and Boldt believes that giving customers the meals they really want and focusing on segments the grocery industry forgets will continue to yield rewards.

Tony Buffin | CEO + George Goley | CTO | Holland & Barrett (OTW)Buffin joined the health retailer in the spring of 2019 and he is expected to add further strength to the management and leadership of the business with regard to its big aims of transforming customer propositions across all channels and renewing its focus on product and service innovation. He previously spent six years at Travis Perkins but does have food retail experience from his time at Australian retailer The Coles Group. Goley is a tech veteran who has been at Holland & Barrett for almost a year. He is the first CTO at the company and came from Sainsbury’s Argos. He will be working alongside Buffin to deliver more speed in the retail experience, greater convenience in service and delivery, and increase the levels of personalisation both in-store and online.

David Devany | MD of online | IcelandDevany joined Iceland in 2016 and set about growing the online business. Under his stewardship the website was re-launched again in 2019 with significantly improved mobile access and the most recent results have shown very strong growth throughout the past year with deliveries regularly exceeding 200,000 per week. The company announced in June that online picking will be rolling out across the group’s The Food Warehouse stores along with a new text service, where customers will receive live order updates and a 30-minute delivery window.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersMartin Francis | customer & digital director | Karen Millen/CoastFrancis joined women’s retailer Karen Millen/Coast in March 2019 although owner Kaupthing had put the brand, which operates in 65 countries, up for sale. Karen Millen is in the middle of a turnaround strategy, which involves a new focus on e-commerce and slim-lining its physical store estate. Despite these tough backdrops Francis will be able to count on his extensive experience gained during stints at Arcadia, Woolovers and House of Fraser.

Pierre Woreczek | chief customer officer | KingfisherAppointed chief customer officer in 2016, Woreczek has a huge remit including being in charge of customer knowledge, brand strategy and brand identity, customer experience, customer engagement, corporate reputation, external and internal communication. He was most recently at McDonald’s where he spent 12 years as chief strategy, customer and digital officer. Kingfisher is currently under pressure as its new CEO embarks on a strategy to woo back its customers in France.

Archie Norman | chairman + Jim Cruickshank | global director of digital product & UX | Marks & SpencerNorman came on board as chairman in 2017, after having refused the job twice before, with the reputation as the ‘resuscitation king’ after completing turnarounds at both ITV and Asda. A shrewd retail heavyweight he is helping to steer the struggling retailer through a massive modernisation programme, which entails significant store losses. M&S’ decision to buy half of Ocado’s UK retail business will keep Cruickshank busy following his move to the retail stalwart in 2016. He will also have a hand in things like the proposed roll-out of the Mobile Pay Go app.

Jason Hargreaves | CEO + Paul Hornby | director of e-commerce | MatalanMatalan’s 2018 results were the best for seven years, which is good news for Hargreaves who has been at the helm of the company his father founded since 2013. Its online business is thriving under his leadership and with the able assistance of Hornby who contributed greatly to the transformation at his former employer Shop Direct. Matalan has also made strides in simplifying its supply chain and improving the range and quality of its products since Hargreaves junior took up the top job.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersKevin Rusling | COO | Mothercare (OTW)Rusling joined the maternity and children’s wear retailer in 2016 having been poached from Monsoon. He initially took responsibility for the international operations but was promoted to COO in 2019. He now leads the development of Mothercare’s global brand strategy and oversees its world-wide network of franchise and wholesale partners. As well as experience from Monsoon, his previous employers include Asda and M&S.

Steve Johnson | CEO | N Brown (OTW)Johnson was installed as CEO of N Brown in February 2019 having served as interim CEO since September of the previous year. His background is financial which will be essential as the company, which includes JD Williams and Simply Be in its portfolio, is facing a challenging time. His strong strategic thinking will be of great value to the company at a time when its sales figures are down and store closures are on the cards.

Claire Davenport | CEO + Richard Zubrik | CTO | Notonthehighstreet (OTW)Notonthehighstreet brought in Davenport in late August 2019 after the enforced departure of Barrie Seidenburg for health reasons. Davenport had most recently been advising various private equity and venture capital-backed businesses after a spell as CEO of HelloFresh UK. She has a wealth of other experience from roles at Skype, Ofcom and JPMorganChase. She joins tech expert Zubrik who was poached from Asos in January 2019 and is tasked with developing and scaling the technical functionality of the marketplace to ensure that it provides the best showcase for sellers.

Tessa Clarke | co-founder & CEO | OlioClarke has been a well-known warrior against food waste for several years now and co-founded app-based food sharing firm Olio in 2014. It connects neighbours with each other and with local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. The app now has 1.1 million signed up users with 1.8 million portions of food shared to date. Clarke is well on the way to delivering on her vision of millions of hyper-local food sharing networks all around the world with the most recent round of investment closing at $6 million in the summer of 2018.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersIvan Mazour | CEO | OmetriaHigh-flying young entrepreneur Ivan Mazour has been CEO of the artificial intelligence-powered, personalised customer marketing firm especially designed for retailers since he co-founded it seven years ago. London-based Ometria is now successfully working with multiple international retailers to leverage their data to acquire better customers and keep them purchasing more. Mazour envisions Ometria growing into a thriving international business with a 1,000-employee base and to help him achieve this he has to date completed several rounds of investment funding totalling $11 million.

Mark Livingstone | CRO | Pharmacy2UPharmacy2U is the largest online pharmacy in the UK and Livingstone its CEO, following a merger with ChemistDirect.co.uk in 2016. It currently dispenses eight times more prescriptions than any other online pharmacy. The company announced recently that it would open a new dispensing facility in 2019 that will enable it to increase capacity by 16-times. Livingstone’s background includes co-founding and CEO of LoveFilm, worldwide managing director of Lego Interactive and one of the people behind health retailer Graze.com.

Christos Angelides | CEO | ReissAngelides has been at premium clothing retailer Reiss for over two years after having reportedly turned down the offer to take on the M&S clothing division role. It seems to have been a canny appointment by founder David Reiss as the latest annual revenues show an increase of 8.3% to £186.3 million. Angelides’ brings the relentless focus on product and people that he displayed in his time at Next where he worked for nearly 30 years.

John Mewett | CEO | ScrewfixA reshuffle in late 2018 at Kingfisher saw Mewett move from his role as Kingfisher Group digital director back to the successful and fast-growing Screwfix as CEO. He actually began his Kingfisher career at Screwfix in 2008 as marketing and IT director. During which time he played a significant role in Screwfix’s growth. More recently in his new role, he has been leveraging Screwfix’s digital capability across the group to good effect.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersHenry Birch | CEO + Andy Burton | CTO | Shop DirectMulti-brand online retailer Shop Direct appointed Birch as CEO in 2018 hoping to tap into his digital prowess as evidenced at William Hill and Rank Group previously. Burton joined the firm after a stellar period at Sky Betting and Gaming which he transformed into one of the UK’s largest online gaming operators. Heading up Shop Direct, which has annual sales of almost £2 billion, will be a challenge as there has been many senior level departures and the company is set to open huge new premises in 2021 consolidating three sites into one fulfilment and returns centre.

Emma Watkins | founder | SilkFredSilkFred – the site which allows independent fashion brands a platform to sell their wares – was founded by Watkins in 2011. Under her leadership the company has scaled up to showcasing 600 different brands, employ 70 staff and wants to develop technology to personalise the experience so customers will only see what’s relevant for them based on their last visit or shop. Her clothing expertise comes from stints at both Whistles and MyWardrobe.com

Adam Pikett | CEO | SportPursuitSportPursuit is the UK’s first sports-focused private sale website hosting daily sales which attract one million members in the UK. Pikett has been its CEO since 2011 when he left a high-flying job in the City to start and self-fund the business. He has big ambitions to scale SportPursuit internationally and the company has received around £30 million of investment across several rounds of funding.

Charlie Pool | CEO | Stowga Stowga is to retail warehousing what Airbnb is to bedrooms – its founder Pool decided to take the long leases and legalistic paraphernalia that paralysed the industry and jettison them in favour of an agile and very fast process of taking on or leaving commercial space that could revolutionise supply chains in retail. The business’ ground-breaking model causes it to often have to move much more slowly than it would prefer in the staid property world in which it operates.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersTugce Bulut | founder | StreetbeesBulut is the founder and CEO of Streetbees, which connects companies that need data with people on the ground who can provide it in real-time from anywhere in the world. Starting in 2015 she has built a new kind of market research business having realised that people are creating consumer data all the time and she worked out a way to properly harness it. Her ultimate aim is to disrupt the multi-billion market research industry and to that end StreetBees is already working with market-leading companies like Pepsico, BBC and Unilever.

James Davidson | CEO | Tails.comDavidson founded the personalised pet food company in 2013 initially working as its COO before switching to CEO in 2014. Its successful technological focus on a personalised service for both animals and their owners has reaped rewards with Nestle Purina taking a majority share of Tails.com in April 2018. Under his stewardship the company continues to strive to disrupt the pet sector through artificial intelligence and the successful introduction of human health trends into the pet community. Davidson learnt his trade at Innocent Drinks where he worked as head of its supply chain and head of production for seven years.

Kieran O’Neill | CEO | ThreadO’Neill is a serial entrepreneur having started and sold his first internet company by the age of 19. He founded the personal styling site Thread in 2012 and has been the CEO since then. In late 2018 H&M led a £17 million investment round in the artificial intelligence-driven company and is now working with the start-up on ways to bring Thread’s software into the real-world through a retail partnership. O’Neill is on record as saying he is keen to expand both into women’s clothing and internationally.

Sophie Hill | founder & CEO + Nick Hagen | COO | Threads StylingThreads Styling was founded by Hill nine years ago and the service is best described as chat-based commerce, which is reinventing luxury goods selling for the social media-first generation. Hill cut her retail teeth at Wolverine and Arcadia but her focus on Millennials/Gen Z and social media communications makes Threads one to watch as this segment is forecast to make up 45% of the luxury market by 2025. Hill is ably helped by Hagen who contributes operational skills to Threads practice of sourcing clients through Instagram before they are picked up by the brand’s WhatsApp host team, who then connect them with a personal shopper. All communications are done via messaging – so-called ‘conversational commerce’.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersMandeep Singh | co-founder & CEO | TrouvaSingh co-founded Trouva in 2015 to bridge the gap for bricks and mortar independents to sell homewares online. The site offers click & collect, one hour delivery and worldwide shipping in a single seamless platform. Singh’s background is in retail consultancy and his vision has been to expand the number of digital marketeers at Trouva and fully utilise the opportunity of social media channels. The company expanded into its first international market, Germany, in 2018 following a £7.5 million investment in the company.

Stephen Rapoport | VP disruptive innovation | Unilever (OTW)Rapoport arrived at giant Unilever in March 2018 after stepping down from the coffee subscription company he founded, Pact Coffee, in November 2017 at which point he became its chairman. His experience of running Pact will be massively important as Unilever is focused very much on this direct-to-consumer marketplace and has bought snack company Graze as part of its strategy in this area.

Ben Stimson | digital director | Waitrose (OTW)Stimson has been working his way up the John Lewis/Waitrose ranks since joining in 2010. He is the first incumbent of the newly created digital director role at Waitrose, which comes at a time the upmarket supermarket is replacing its Ocado partnership. He will oversee the acceleration of the development of Waitrose’s online arm through an increase in capacity and automation and improvements in the grocer’s online and digital capabilities as well as develop three new automated fulfilment centres. His work will be cut out as Waitrose wants to grow its online business over the next three years to create a £1 billion operation.

Jo Jenkins | CEO | White Stuff (OTW)Jenkins has spent most of her career at M&S and Next but moved to White Stuff in April 2018. She has been focused since then on revamping its products, which had fallen out of favour with consumers, and creating a more integrated multi-channel organisation. The spring and summer range previous to her appointment in 2017 was not popular and hit results but Jenkins, a veteran buyer, will no doubt have learned the lessons of that and her investment in the online business already looks to be paying dividends with online sales representing 30% of total turnover.


A-Z The Recognised RetailersRoss Clemmow | CEO | Wiggle (OTW)Clemmow has been the CEO at cycling, running and swimming online retailer Wiggle since February 2019 after joining Wiggle owner Bridgepoint Capital as MD. A proposed stockmarket flotation has been put on hold as Clemmow focuses on turning in the first profit for the world’s largest online retailer in this category for its private equity owners. Clemmow previously spent six years at Debenhams as MD for retail, digital food and events as well as holding other digital-based roles at various retailers.

Investors & Non-executive DirectorsA mix of private investors and specialists at investments firms along with influential non-exec directors with multiple roles. This list comprises the most prominent figures currently investing in the retail industry and experienced directors who are helping retailers navigate the challenging digital journey.

Listed alphabetically by their surname.

Frederic Court | founder & managing partner | Felix Capital With a very strong track record in private equity investment from his time at Advent Ventures, where he spent many years, Court struck out and founded Felix Capital in 2014. He was a major early stage investor in Farfetch where he still sits on the board. Current investments include Peloton, Highsnobiety, Frichti and Yoobic.

Mark Evans | founder | Present Value TrustLow-key operator Evans is involved with some of the more interesting plays in the sector, with director positions at the likes of The Hut Group, Depop, Gousto, and Appear Here. They are all having a major impact on the retail landscape and Evans brings a wealth of experience to bear in helping them navigate their respective areas.

Susanne Given | Non-executive director Plenty of experience from a variety of retail roles places Given in a strong position to provide valued input as a non-executive at a variety of organisations including Made, which is making great progress, Outfittery, Al Tayer Group and Eurostar.

Jon Kamaluddin | Non-executive director and advisorKamaluddin has contributed to the success of a number of businesses that have grown to become serious players in their respective parts of the market. His 10-year stint at Asos involved driving its overseas growth and this experience has since been used to great effect as a director of both Farfetch and Klarna. He is also an advisor to Felix Capital.

Robin Klein | Non-executive director and investorIt is hard to know where to start with Klein who has been influencing and disrupting the retail industry – along with other sectors – for many years. Going back to 1985 he was chairman of Innovations that ultimately led him to be a pioneer in the digital world. Myriad roles as private equity player, advisor and angel investor have continued to this day. Among his present interests are Zoopla, TransferWise, Kano Computing, Moo, and Skimlinks.

Brian McBride | Non-executive director and investorThe experience gained running Amazon in the UK and other technology related roles has placed McBride in a sweet spot to advise other digital-led businesses and he has taken up various directorships. He was chairman of Asos until recently and is currently chairman of Wiggle and senior independent director at AO World.


Investors & Non-executive DirectorsDoug McCallum | Non-executive director and investorIt has been a very busy year for McCallum who sits on the boards of three sizeable and growing businesses that have each undergone important periods. Ocado has been on its transformation period, Trainline underwent an IPO and Photobox has had major changes in senior management. All will have benefited from McCallum’s wise counsel.

Michael Ross | Non-executive directorThe vastly experienced operator Ross has run online retail businesses including Figleaves before moving onto the vendor side and founding DynamicAction. He is its chief scientist but it is his advisory work and non-executive roles that have enabled him to spread his valuable experience across the industry. He currently sits on the boards of N Brown + Sainsbury’s Bank.

Matt Truman | founder | True Start and True CapitalTruman has built-out a successful eco-system with the investment hub/incubator True Start that support start-up businesses in the retail and consumer sectors alongside the specialist retail and consumer investment business True Capital, which currently has investments including Ribble, Frugi and Tyres on the Drive.

John Walden | Non-executive directorAfter an extensive career in retail in the US, Walden made his name in the UK overseeing the digital turnaround of Argos at Home Retail Group and its sales to Sainsbury’s. He now holds a variety of positions including chairman of Holland & Barrett and a board role at L1 Retail (investment arm of LetterOne).



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